Politics & Government

District 210: Four Incumbents All Re-Elected

The four candidates ran together, and will serve together another term on the Lincoln-Way High School District 210 board.

Despite five challengers and low voter turnout, the four incumbents in the Lincoln-Way High School District 210 race were re-elected.

James Gast, Christine Glatz, Kevin Mollow and Stephen White were elected to another term as members on the high school board. They ran together on a slate they called "Proven Leadership," and it seems to have paid off.

"I've been through it seven times, this is the eighth time and it is never easy because you never know," said James Gast, of unincorporated New Lenox. "I am very thankful to the voters of our district. They must think we are doing a good job to return all four of us back to the board."

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At least one candidate from the unincorporated district area was required to be elected, and Gast, Glatz and Molloy all fit that description. Glatz led all vote-getters with 15.6 percent of the vote, and Molly (15.5) and Gast (13.7) weren't far behind.

White got nearly 13 percent of the vote, edging out challengers Brian Sasso (11.2) and Tom Huisenga (10.9), among others. He was appointed to the board in the fall after board member Ron Kokal died in April. White said he's looking forward to serving a full term on the board.

Find out what's happening in New Lenoxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Molloy said White has had time for the learning curve needed to fully participate in the board, and he's happy to have the group back together.

"To me, the most important part of this is we laid the groundwork over the last couple years to keep our heads above water with the curveballs thrown at us," Molloy said. "Bringing a new member up to speed could have been one step forward, two steps back. (White) is getting a leg up and finally able to contribute. It takes that long."

But Molloy gave the five challengers credit for running tough races and keeping the vote counts close throughout the night. He said some of the reason there could be so many challengers, besides the fact that it's an off-year for the presidential election, is that the situation with the state budget has ignited a will to get involved from more residents.

The state budget and its effects on the local school district will continue to be a central issue that the board will have to deal with.

"We are trying to deal with this financial situation that the state of Illinois is going through," Gast said. "I am really tired of having to keep cutting the budget because of the state of Illinois' inability to fund education. I am tired of that. Will I do it? Yes I will. It is getting old. I want to get onto something different."

Sasso, who received the most votes of any challenger, acknowledged the edge that incumbents often have but said he was happy to try to get more involved.

"It was a close race, and we certainly had a lot of qualified candidates running," Sasso said. "I want to congratulate all the incumbents, and I hope they'll take some of my ideas. I always think it's good to be involved in the community, and this was a good learning experience."

Candidate Area* Percentage Total votes Kevin Molloy U 15.56 5395 Christine Glatz U 15.60 5409 James Gast U 13.68 4741 Ronald Lullo U 8.71 3019 Stephen White I 12.96 4493 Todd Covault I 4.68 1622 Tom Huisenga I 10.92 3787 Mark Zilinkskas I 6.66 2310 Brian Sasso I 11.23 3892

*Area is unincorporated/incorporated district space. Check back to Patch throughout the week for more updates and reactions.


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